Easy-open seal of adhesive tape



Nom-24, 1979 A, J, 201A 3,542,637 f EASY-OPEN sEAL 0F ADHESIVE TAPE I Filed July 9v, 1968 2 sheets-sheet 1 20) c/6'4 /7 la United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 161--115 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention concerns an easy-open seal of adhesive tape or tape which can be made to be adhesive to itself or to sheet material to which it is attached. The seal is formed from a length of such tape in attaching the tape to sheet material having two adjacent apertures formed therein. One of the ends of the length of tape is inserted through one of the apertures and a portion of the length of tape which is intermediate the ends thereof is inserted through the other aperture, and that end and intermediate portion are then adhered to each other or to the sheet material located between the aperture on one side of the sheet material, to form a seal between the apertures on the other side of the sheet material. The other end of the length of tape can then be adhered to the other side of the sheet material in such position that it can be disadhered and pulled to cause the intermediate portion to become disadhered from the Afirst end of the length of tape or the sheet material when it is desired to open the seal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.--Field of the invention The present invention is particularly useful in sealing containers, such as corrugated boxes, chipboard cartons and the like, so that they can be opened easily by hand and without the need for any tool. However, the easyopen seal can also be used to attach articles to a piece of sheet material, and for other purposes such as holding sheet material together to form a display board or the like.

The easy-open seal of the present invention is easily formed and attached to sheet material of any kind, and the seal can be formed from a variety of materials including pressure-sensitive adhesive tape which can contain reinforcing laments, from reinforced water actvatible tapes or from heat sealable tapes of various kinds.

2.Description of the prior art The art of closing box containers by means of sealing includes the use of metal staples, glue, gummed paper tape and steel or tape strapping. The use of machinery to form a staple of adhesive tape to hold objects onto cards is described in the U.S. Pats. Nos. 2,788,625; 2,802,321 and 2,922,265, but none of the tape staples so formed have the easy-opening ta-b of the present invention. A tape staple has not previously been used for sealing packages because the staples shown in the prior art would not have the holding advantages of the seal of the present invention and would be very diticult to remove.

The easy-open seal of the present invention has many advantages over the prior art, including lower cost for comparable performance. The metal staples and strapping which have been used often damage the contents of a container and cause injury to the person who attempts to remove them in order to obtain the contents thereof. Tools are often necessary in removing the metal staples, but the easy-open seal of the present invention can be removed by hand and without any likelihood of injury to the hand. Additionally, an easy-open staple seal of the present invention can be removed from a box or other container without damaging the container, so that the same container can be reused many times.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a method of forming and attaching an easy-open seal from a length of tape which is adhesive or can be made to be adhesive to itself or to sheet material in which two adjacent apertures have been formed, and the easy-open seal which has been formed and attached to such sheet material.

In the method for forming and attaching the seal the portion of the length of tape which is intermediate the ends thereof is inserted through one of the apertures and the adhesive side thereof is adhered to one side of the sheet material in the portion which is located between the two apertures. The adhesive side of a rirst end of the length of tape then faces toward the other aperture, and the adhesive side of a second end of the length of tape faces away from the other aperture on the other side of the sheet material. The second end is then pulled on enough to tighten the tape which extends between that part of the intermediate portion which is adhered to the one side of the sheet material and the second end, but not enough to disadhere the adhered part, and the second end is then adhered to the other side of the sheet material which is nearest to it. The rst end of the length of tape is then inserted through the other aperture and pulled enough to tighten the tape which extends between the apertures on the other side of the sheet material, and the adhesive side of the iirst end is then adhered to that portion of the one side of the sheet material which is located between the apertures. A seal of tape is thus formed between the apertures on the other side of the sheet material, and that seal can be opened easily by disadhering the second end from the other side of the sheet material and pulling on the second end enough to cause the intermediate portion to become disadhered from the sheet material.

The intermediate portion of the length of tape which Was inserted through the one aperture can be adhered to the back non-adhesive side of the -iirst end of the length of tape after that end of the tape has been adhered to the one side of the sheet material, or the adhesive side of the rst end of the length of tape can be adhered to the adhesive side of that part ofthe intermediate portion which is on the one side of the sheet material but which is not adhered to the sheet material, to form a seal of tape which encircles the entire sheet material between the apertures. The adherence of the adhesive side of the first end of the length of tape to the adhesive side of the intermediate portion of the tape provides an adhesive to adhesive bond between them, which is a very strong bond and results in a seal with great holding power, although it is more difficult to remove. The strength of such an adhesive to adhesive bond can be varied according to the length of the bond, however, and a relatively small amount of such overlap will provide a seal which is quite strong but which can be removed rather easily by pulling on the second end to cause the intermediate portion of the length of tape to become disadhered from the sheet material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 through 6 are enlarged sectional views through two apertures formed in the double top of a corrugated box, showing the successive relative positions assumed by the portions of the length of tape during the forming and removing of the easy-open seal; and

FIG. 7 is a reduced perspective view of a corrugated box containing four easy-open seals after they have been formed therein; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional View through two apertures in the double top of a corrugated box, showing another form of the easy-open seal after it has been formed and attached.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG. 7, it will be seen that the easyopen seal of the present invention is particularly useful in closing the top 9 of a regular slotted container box 10 which has four flaps formed from an extension of the four sides of the box. The two flaps 11 and 12 which extend from the sides shown at the top and bottom in FIG. 7 are folded toward each other beneath the two flaps 13 and 14 which extend from the sides shown to be at the right and left in FIG. 7, and the ends of the two underneath iiaps 11 and 12 are shown in dotted lines in FIG. 7, while the ends of the two outside flaps 13 and 14 are shown in solid lines which are perpendicular to the dotted lines.

Prior to forming the easy-open seals 17 of the present invention by attaching lengths of tape to sheet material such as the double top 9 of the box 10, two adjacent apertures and 16 are formed in both of the top iiaps 13 and 14 and corresponding apertures are formed in the underneath iiaps 11 and 12 in order to provide the complete apertures 15 and 16 through to the inside of the box 10. As many of the apertures 15 and 16 are formed as the number of seals 17 to be formed and attached. However, if there is some disadvantage in providing the apertures 15 and 16 through the entire top 9 of the box 10, such as to cause the contents to be apt to spill out through those apertures, the apertures can be formed only in the flaps 13 and 14 and not in the flaps 11 and 12. Instead, the flaps 11 and 12 could be pulled toward the inside of the rbox if it is necessary to do so during the forming and attaching of the easy-open seal, and then returned to its original position after the seal has been formed and attached. Additionally, the apertures 15 and 16 can be formed during the same time that the easyopen seal is formed and attached by a machine constructed to perform both operations, and the apertures can be made in a variety of configurations other than rectangular. Also, it is not necessary to remove any of the sheet material in forming the apertures 15 and 16 if a flap type aperture is formed through the sheet material, so that the contents of the box would not be apt to spill through the aperture even if the aperture is formed through al1 of the fiaps 11, 12, 13 and 14.

Referring now to the FIGS. 1 through 4, it will be understood how the easy-open seal 17 of the present invention can be formed from a length of pressure sensitive tape 18 having an adhesive coating on one side thereof, and by attaching the length of tape 18 through two of the adjecent apertures 15 and 16 formed in the sheet material such as the top 9 of the box 10 which is formed from the outside fiaps 13 and 14 and the inside iiaps 11 or 12. The length of tape 18 has a first end 19, a second end 20 and a portion which is intermediate those ends 19 and 20 and which is indicated by the reference character 21. Although the easy-open seal can be formed and attached by first inserting the first end 19 through the aperture 15, as is shown in FIG. 3, and then inserting the intermediate portion 21 through the aperture 16, the FIGS. 1 through 3 show the seal being formed and attached by first inserting the intermediate portion 21 through the aperture 16. The adhesive tape 18 has an adhesive coating 22 on one side thereof and the tape 18 is so placed that the adhesive coated side 22 thereof is facing the outside 23 of the sheet material comprising the top 9 of the box 10. The adhesive side 22 of part of the intermediate portion 21 of the length of tape 18 is then adhered to that portion of the inside 24 of the top 9 of the box 10 which is located between the apertures 15 and 16, as is shown in FIG. 2. The adhesive side 22 of the first end 19 of the length of tape 18 then faces toward the other aperture 15, and the adhesive side of the second end 20 then faces away from the other aperture 15 on the outside 23, which is the other side of the sheet material comprising the top 9 from the adhered part of the intermediate portion 21, as is also shown in FIG. 2.

The second end 20 is then pulled on enough to tighten the tape which extends between it and that part of the intermediate portion 21 which is adhered to the one or inside 24 of the sheet material comprising the top 9, but not enough to disadhere the adhered part of intermediate portion 21, and the second end 20 is then adhered to the nearest part of the top 9 on the other or outside 23 of the sheet material 9, as is shown in FIG. 3. The first end 19 of the length of tape 18 is then inserted through the other aperture 15, as is shown in FIG. 3, and, after pulling on the end 19 enough to tighten the tape which extends between the apertures 15 and 16, the adhesive side of the end 19 is adhered to that portion of the inside 24 of the top 9 which is located between the apertures, to form a seal of tape between the apertures 15 and 16 as is shown in FIG. 4.

When it is desired to open the box 10, the seal 17 can easily be opened by first disadhering the second end 20 from the outside 23 of the sheet material, as is shown in FIG. 5, and then by pulling on the end 20 enough to cause the intermediate portion 21 to become disadhered from the sheet material, as is shown in FIG. 6. The outside iiaps 13 and 14 can then be lifted upwardly and then the same can be done with the inside iiaps 11 and 12, to open the top 9 and expose the interior of the box 10.

Referring now to FIG. 8, it will be seen that the adhesive side of the first end 19 can be adhered to at least part of the adhesive side of thatpart of the adhesive side of the intermediate portion 21 which is on the inside 24 of the sheet material 9, but which is not adhered to the sheet material, to form a seal of tape which encircles the entire sheet material which is located between the apertures 15 and 16. Such an adhesive to adhesive bond is very strong, so that the resulting seal 17 will hold much better than the seal 17 which is shown in FIG. 4. Additionally, the seal 17 shown in FIG. 8 will usually permit exposure of less adhesive surface facing away from the inside 24 of the top 9 and toward the contents on the inside of a box 10, so that there would be less contact between the contents of the box and the adhesive side of the tape comprising the seal. Thus the contents of the box will not tend to rub the tape off the `box, and the adhesive will not contaminate the contents of the box. Although it will take more of a pull on the second end 20 to remove the seal 17 which is shown in FIG. 8, the greater holding ability of the seal 17 having the adhesive to adhesive bond is often worth whatever additional difficulty might be found in the removal of it.

The holding power of the seal 17 which is shown in FIG. 8 can be varied, depending on the area of the adhesive to adhesive bond between the first end 19 and intermediate portion 21. If the strongest seal is desired, the intermediate portion 21 can be made to extend the entire distance between the apertures 15 and 16 on the inside 24 of the sheet material and the first end 19 can be adhered to the entire adhesive surface thereof which is not adhered to the sheet material. However, such a strong seal would require a great amount of force to cause the disadherence of the intermediate portion from the first end. Consequently, the amount of adhesive to adhesive bond shown in PIG. 8, or less than that amount, is usually sufficient for normal use.

The easy-open seal of this invention can also be formed by first adhering the adhesive side of the first end 19 of the length of tape 18 to the inside 24 of the sheet material and then adhering the adhesive side of the intermediate portion 21 to the back or non-adhesive side of the first end 19. Such a seal 17 would probably be easier to remove than the seal 17 which is shown in FIG. 4, and would be particularly desirable when it is desired to produce a seal which is more easily removed. Also, the adhesive surface of the second end y20 can be adhered to itself over a very short distance to provide a tab which can be grasped easily or a piece of paper or other material can be attached to the adhesive surface of the second end 20 with instructions for the removal of the seal.

As is evident from the above description of my invention, many variations can be envisioned. For example, if a heat sealable tape is used in forming my easy-open seal and the first end is heat sealed to the intermediate portion as is shown in FIG. 8, there would not be any need to adhere any of the tape to the sheet material. Such variations, embodying some or all of the novel features herein, are comprehended, and I do not intend to be limited only to the embodiments herein described, but, rather, I intend to be limited only by my disclosure taken as a whole, including the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of forming an easy-open seal from a length of adhesive tape in attaching said length of tape to sheet material having two adjacent apertures therein, said method comprising inserting a portion of said length of tape which is intermediate the ends thereof through one of said apertures and adhering the adhesive side of part of said intermediate portion to that portion of one side of the sheet material which is located between said apertures, so that the adhesive side of a first end of said length of tape faces toward the other aperture and the adhesive side of a second end of said length of tape faces away from said other aperture on the other side of the sheet material, then pulling on the said second end enough to tighten the tape which extends between that part of said intermediate portion which is adhered to said one side of the sheet material and said second end but not enough to disadhere said adhered part, then adhering said second end to said other lside of the sheet material which is nearest to it, and then inserting the said first end of said length of tape through said other aperture and, after pulling on said first end enough to tighten the tape which extends between said apertures on said other side of the sheet material, adhering the adhesive side thereof to that portion of said one side of the sheet material which is located between said apertures, to form a seal of tape between said apertures on said other side of the sheet material, whereby said seal can be opened easily by disadhering said second end of said length of tape from said other side of the sheet material and then by pulling on said second end enough to cause said intermediate portion to become disadhered from the sheet material.

2'. A method of forming an easy-open seal from a length of adhesive tape in attaching said length of tape to sheet material having two adjacent apertures therein, said method comprising inserting a portion of said length of tape which is intermediate the ends thereof through one of said apertures and adhering the adhesive side of part of said intermediate portion to that portion of one side of the sheet material which is located between said apertures, so that the adhesive side of a first end of said length of tape faces toward the other aperture and the adhesive side of a second end of said length of tape faces away from said other aperture on the other side of the sheet material, then pulling on the said second end enough to tighten the tape which extends between that part of said intermediate portion which is adhered to said one side of the sheet material and said second end but not enough to disadhere said adhered part, then adhering said second end to said other side of the sheet material which is nearest to it, and then inserting the said first end of said length of tape through said other aperture and after pulling on said first end enough to tighten the tape which extends between said apertures on said other side of the sheet material, adhering the adhesive side thereof to at least part of the adhesive side of that part of said intermediate portion which is on said one side of the sheet material but which is not adhered to the sheet material, to form a seal of 'tape which encircles the entire sheet material located between said apertures, whereby said seal can be opened `easily by disadhering said second end of said length of tape from said other side of the sheet material and then by pulling on said second end enough to cause said intermediate portion to become disadhered from said first end of said length of tape and from the sheet material.

3. An easy-open seal of adhesive tape attached to sheet material having two adjacent apertures therein, said seal comprising a length of said tape with a portion which is intermediate the ends thereof inserted through one end of said apertures and part of the adhesive side of said intermediate portion adhered to that portion of one side of the sheet material which is located between said apertures, with a first end of said length of tape inserted through the other aperture and the adhesive side thereof adhered to that portion of said one side of the sheet material which is located between said apertures, to form a seal of tape between said apertures, and with the adhesive side of a second end of said length of tape adhered to the other side of the sheet material in position to become disadhered when it is desired to open the seal of tape by pulling on said second end to cause said intermediate portion to become disadhered from the sheet material.

4. An easy-open seal of adhesive tape attached to sheet material having two adjacent apertures therein, said seal comprising a length of said tape with a portion which is intermediate the ends thereof inserted through one of said apertures and part of the adhesive side of said interd mediate portion adhered to that portion of one side of the sheet material which is located between said apertures, with a first end of said length of tape inserted through the other aperture and the adhesive side thereof adhered to at least part of the adhesive side of that part of said intermediate portion which is located on said one side of the sheet material but which is not adhered to the sheet material, to form a seal of tape which encircles the entire sheet material located between said apertures, and with the adhesive side of a second end of said length of tape adhered to the other side of the sheet material in position to become disadhered when it is desired to open the seal of tape by pulling on said second end to cause said intermediate portion to become disadhered from said -first end of said length of tape and from the sheet material.

5. An easy-open seal of adhesive tape attached to sheet material having two adjacent apertures therein, said seal comprising a length of said tape with a portion which is intermediate the ends thereof inserted through one of said apertures and a first end of said length of tape inserted through the other aperture and adhered to at least part of said intermediate portion to form a seal of tape which encircles the entire sheet material located between said apertures, and with a second end of said length of 5 tape positioned on the opposite side of said sheet material from said first end in position to be pulled on when it is desired to open the seal of tape to cause said intermediate portion to become disadhered from said first end of said length of tape and then remove the length of tape from the sheet material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/ 1935 Ratclitf 229-45 4/ 1969 Connor et al 229-45 U.S. Cl. X.R. 

